Late Night OTB – Blackberry Smoke

An artist that's been around for years that I've only discovered recently.

The first few installments of the rebooted Late Night OTB have been dedicated to cover versions by country or bluegrass artists of classic pop songs. We’ll likely return to that theme with some regularity. Tonight, though, we’ll introduce a second: artists who’ve been around for years who I’ve only discovered recently, either because of the vagaries of my listening habits, their relative obscurity, or both.

Blackberry Smoke has been around since 2000 and put out its first studio album in 2004 but I hadn’t heard of them until stumbling on this selection from their third album, The Whippoorwill, released in 2012.

Their sixth album, Find a Light, is due out next month. They’ve only charted one single, “Pretty Little Lie” (also from The Whippoorwill), which made it to #46.

It’ll surprise none of you that I prefer the live version:

This, despite their next two albums, Holding All the Roses (2015) and Like an Arrow (2016) debuting #1 on the US Country charts.

Here are a couple more I like. A wonderful cover of Steve Earle’s “My Old Friend the Blues” (see, I worked one in, anyway):